REACHED FOR COMMENT LATE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON BY THESE REPORTERS, THE DAHLIBAMA DECLARED, "ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO THIS TRIP IS MEET SHREK. I THINK HE'S CUTE AND MAYBE IF HE KISSES ME HE CAN CHANGE ME INTO SOMETHING ELSE -- ANYTHING ELSE."

The picture is grim. A perception poll of gender experts by the Thomson Reuters Foundation
shows that the rise of political Islam across Arab Spring countries has
had a real impact on secularism. Almost three years after popular
uprisings toppled autocratic leaders in one of the most conservative
corners of the world, three out of five Arab Spring countries rank among
the bottom five states for women's rightsMany political gains for women have been lost. In fact, women are
struggling to preserve their dignity, and far from progressing, they are
now fighting to preserve the rights they had before the Arab Spring.

[. . .]

Life is not much better in Iraq, second-worst country for women's rights in the region, according to the survey.The experts said that radical Islamisation of society, sectarian
violence and a reaction against what many see as western imperialism in
the years after the 2003 invasion were all having a devastating impact
on women.The "war on terror" has made widows of 1.6 million Iraqi women,
leaving them without income and with few prospects of employment. In
Iraq, only 14.5 percent of the entire female population is employed, and
women have lost their voice in political circles. Mass displacement has
made them vulnerable to trafficking and sexual violence.

I am against the equality between men and woman. If women are equal
to men they are going to lose a lot. Up to now I am with the power of
the man in society: If I go out of my house: I have to tell my husband
where I am going. This does not mean diluting the role of woman in
society but, on the contrary, it will bring more power to the woman as a
mother who looks after their kids and brings up their children.

She's in a position of authority and she's arguing against women's
rights. She's also supposed to represent all women and yet she doesn't.
In Iraq, as in every country, there are women who will never have
children (by choice or due to fertility issues -- of the woman or the
man), there are women who will never marry. And Iraq is a land of
widows. Not only is she harming women's rights but she's even rendering
women invisible.

Contrary to popular imagination, Iraqi women enjoyed far more freedom
under Saddam Hussein’s secular Ba’athist government than women in other
Middle Eastern countries. In fact, equal rights for women were
enshrined in Iraq’s Constitution in 1970, including the right to vote,
run for political office, access education and own property. Today,
these rights are all but absent under the U.S.-backed government of
Nouri al-Maliki.Prior to the devastating economic sanctions of the 1990s, Iraq’s
education system was top notch and female literacy rates were the
highest in the region, reaching 87 percent in 1985. Education was a major priority for Saddam Hussein’s regime, so much so that in 1982 Iraq received
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) award for eradicating illiteracy. But the education system
crumbled from financial decay under the weight of the sanctions pushing
over 20 percent of Iraqi children out of school by 2000 and reversing
decades of literacy gains. Today, a quarter of Iraqi women are illiterate, more than double the rate for Iraqi men (11 percent). Female illiteracy in rural areas alone is as high as 50 percent.Women were integral to Iraq’s economy and held high positions in both
the private and public sectors, thanks in large part to labor and
employment laws that guaranteed equal pay, six months fully paid
maternity leave and protection from sexual harassment. In fact, it can
be argued that some of the conditions enjoyed by working women in Iraq
before the war rivaled those of working women in the United States.

No to Violence against Women is a women’s rights organization founded
by a group of women’s rights activists back in 2010. It is one of the
organizations planning to organize a protest rally on November 25 in
front of the governor’s office as they protest against the poor
conditions of women’s rights and their struggles.In the meantime, the Kurdistan Women’s Union, a women’s organization
affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of Kirkuk
Governor Najmadin Karim, is a member of the political bureau boycotting
the activities of No to Violence against Women and who view their rally
as an “opposition against the governor and not demanding the women’s
rights.”Women’s activist Naska Muhammad told Kirkuk Now “The majority of the
women’s rights organizations have boycotted the rally as we feel it is
more targeted against the governor and it is politically driven.”

The Kurdistan Regional Government noted
the kick off on Monday and that Monday was International Day Against
Violence Against Women (that's a United Nations day around the world).
KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani addressed a large group of men and
women -- including ministers of government, MPs in the Iraqi Parliament
and the Kurdish Parliament, regional official and diplomats -- in
Erbil. Barzani noted that violence against women is violence against
human rights and the issue is not a 'women's issue' but one for the
entire community to work on. He called for justice which means changing
the laws in the KRG so that the light penalities for husbands killing
wives are eliminated (he noted the KRG law currently mirrors the law for
the rest of Iraq). He noted that they need to address the issue of
child brides and the practice of female genital mutilation. He cited
figures finding that reported violence against women had fallen in 2012
but he stated that the gains were not enough and the community needed to
work harder to address the issue.

Iraq's Human Rights Ministry also had an event.
Compare the photos. Even if you can't read Arabic, you'll note many
things. For example, the Baghdad turnout? Not that impressive in terms
of numbers. The KRG photo displays ten packed rows of attendees (and
the photo cuts off with the impression that there are rows not displayed
in the photo). In Baghdad, they take up about six rows -- with a lot
of empty spaces. In the KRG, you see shiny, healthy hair on the heads
of men and women. In Baghdad, most women have their hair covered.
(Four brave women on the second row do not cover their hair.) Nouri's
Prime Minister of Iraq. Did he address the gathering?

Nope.

He couldn't be bothered with the topic.

Ibithal al-Zaidi was present. Declaring she (now) believes in equality
between the sexes -- based on the law and religions. Whatever.

How important was the event?

They don't even bother to finish the press release -- it cuts off before the end of the release.

Nouri should have been present. By refusing to show up for the Baghdad
event, let alone speak at it, he made clear that violence against women
does not qualify as a serious issue to him.

We're not done with the KRG yet. Al Mada reports
that KRG President Massoud Barzani issued a statement decrying violence
against women saying it was inhumane and against the basic principals
of humanity. He noted the sacrifices and actions Iraqi women had taken
part in to create a better Iraq and called for rights to live safely and
free from oppression, discrimination and violence.

Yes, the Middle East is aflame, as Faily put it. And Iraq is in deep
trouble, like most of the region. Almost daily, 20, 30, 50 or more
people die in terrorist attacks that generally involve Sunnis killing
Shiites or vice versa. Eighty-three people died in attacks Sunday
through Tuesday, bringing the total dead so far this year to more than
3,800.But Faily said his government is not asking the United States to return troops to Iraq. No, he said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
yanked him from his position as ambassador to Japan and sent him to
America a few months ago to carry the message: We need help
with governance.

Faily stated that Iraq was “sitting on billions of barrels of oil. But no one has clean water.” He stated in no certain terms that daily life in Iraq is
deteriorating, lacking in clean water, a workable budget, modern
technology and efforts to fight corruption.Based on Mr Faily’s statements, I had thought that Baghdad’s Islamist
rulers had finally realized their failures, and were looking to America
for help.But then, when Maliki visited Washington earlier this month, he
reportedly asked for more weapons, instead of help with things like
water and electricity. This is a dysfunctional government with no real military capabilities.More than 10 years since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein’s
dictatorship, the Shiite Islamists in Baghdad have failed to govern,
while the Kurds have succeeded in carving out an autonomous and historic
safe haven for themselves in the midst of Iraq’s sea of violence. These
are parallel tales of failure and success.

The editorial board of the Gulf News observes, "It is abundantly clear that the Nouri Al Maliki government has failed
Iraqis miserably. It has done nothing to address the root causes of the
unrest, especially when it comes to complaints of discrimination against
ethnic and religious minorities."